BURLINGTON — The Iola Mustangs experienced a wake-up call after the Burlington Wildcats held them scoreless in Tuesday’s Pioneer League debut.
Burlington shut out Iola 6-0 in the opener, then 8-0 in the final, to hand the Mustangs their first sweep to a Pioneer League opponent since Burlington, again, did it in 2024.
“We knew Burlington was going to be good coming into tonight,” Iola coach Lake Johnson said. “They were good last year, and they returned most of their guys. We were hoping to keep it closer than that, but they were better than us and did everything right.”
Junior Jase Herrmann took the loss, despite a solid complete-game effort in the opener.
He tallied three strikeouts, two walks and six runs on eight hits.
Junior third baseman Austin Crooks and junior second baseman Brock Michael were the only successful hitters in the opener. Crooks hit in 2 of 3 at-bats while Michael was successful in 1 of 3.
“Now we know what we’re striving to be and we’re going to have to work a little harder,” Johnson said. “We’re lucky it’s week two and we might see those guys later on. We know there are some things we need to work on. We’re going to iron that stuff out, move forward and get some more wins.”
Iola was a few hits better in the finale, but the Mustangs failed to turn those small successes into results on the scoreboard. 
After going hitless in the opener, senior catcher Tre Wilson found his footing, hitting in 2 of 3 at-bats. Junior designated hitter Roy Gordon and senior shortstop Nick Bauer had one hit each.
Junior starter Kale Pratt took the loss despite another solid performance for Iola.
Pratt tallied five strikeouts over four innings while allowing four walks and three runs on three hits. Crooks came on in relief in the fifth, tallying a pair of strikeouts, but allowing five runs on a single hit along with a pair of untimely walks.
After opening league play empty-handed, the Mustangs will head on the road for a Friday doubleheader against the Baldwin Bulldogs.
Johnson believes his team can compete with the larger program.
The Mustangs will need some momentum before hosting league foe Prairie View for a Tuesday doubleheader.
“We’ll see if the weather holds up, but it’s really important to get back on track and get some wins there,” Johnson said. “We just need to keep competing. The pitching tonight was some of the best pitching we’ll see all year.
“Baldwin is a bit bigger of a school and we expect them to have some bigger guys, too. It’s going to be a big game for us.”
